Brent Pulse and Lizz Kannenberg attended the same Wilco concert in the fall of 2006, and on the way home, on the L train, they met. The two began discussing music. Brent had been playing saxophone and keys in a funk band and Lizz had been playing bass in a punk band at the time. “We decided to do something that was totally unrelated to either and we got Grammar,” says Kannenberg. The two newly acquainted musicians then began playing together. They also recruited other available friends, Jonathan Sarmiento on drums and accordion, P. Griffin Baron on guitar and Dan Moulder on keys, cementing the rest of Grammar’s lineup. Read the rest of this entry »

When Mauled by Tigers released Vivian Girls’ debut record last year, it pressed 500 copies, which sold out in ten days. Soon copies of the album were popping up on eBay and auctioning for upwards of fifty bucks. In the Red jumped on it, re-released the self-titled record in October and gave everyone else a chance to hear it—ten lashing lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll gems, part 1960s girl group, part riot grrl, part flammable punk rock, all clocking in at about twenty-two minutes. It sounds like the Wipers collided with The Shangri-Las and came out covered in tattoos. Read the rest of this entry »

(Sponsored) .tel domains are now available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis. .tel is perhaps the biggest innovation since the launch of .com. Those who understand the potential early will see a great return on investment. The simple reason is that, as .com was innovative in pioneering the ease of access to new web content globally, .tel is a unique top level domain which drives communications and contact information right across the internet.

Or put less technically, it may just be the new, simple way to keep in touch with friends, business associates, customers or that potential “special person” sitting opposite you on that otherwise dull and monotonous journey, who knows? Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

New York’s The Books will assuredly put on a show to remember, and at a venue like the MCA, one could only imagine the duo of Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong will only kick it up a notch. The experimental work, built from acoustic instruments and hushed, practically spoken vocals, but also vast amounts of electronics and samples, usually comes accompanied by video projection as well, providing an experience that plays to the senses slowly, gradually and, no question, beautifully. The band hasn’t released a proper full-length since 2005′s excellent “Lost and Safe,” but its contribution to the impressive “Dark Was the Night” compilation from February—a cover of Nick Drake’s “Cello Song” with Jose Gonzalez on vocals—is the best song found on the mix. The Books’ material is simply wonderful, and “An Owl with Knees,” from its last record, features a cascading cello part at the finale that works its way through your head as if it were a tsunami. I’m angry at myself for forgetting how much this song annihilates me. (Tom Lynch)

The Books play May 3 at Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, (312)280-2660, at 4pm, 7pm & 10pm. $10-$20.

RECOMMENDED

I have an ongoing debate with a friend of mine over whose cover of “Hallelujah” is better—Jeff Buckley’s or that of John Cale. It’s a fun argument, if a little silly, as clearly it’s Buckley’s (ah-ha! Last word, I win). One of the most influential songwriters of our time, the 74-year-old Leonard Cohen tours for the first time in fifteen years, following years in seclusion, plus a high-profile civil case that was the result of him being swindled out of millions from a former manager. Needless to say, this is an essential show that should be attended (if you can score a ticket, of course, as both nights sold-out, um, really fast). The man behind classic songs like the aforementioned “Hallelujah” and the near mystical “Everybody Knows”—plus classic records like 1967′s “Songs of Leonard Cohen” and 1988′s “I’m Your Man”—simply can’t be compared to other North American artists. Dark, soul-searching, oddball—Cohen has done it all, from deep psychology to religion to painful love. Bono adores him, which is annoying, but Lou Reed adores him too, which is cool. (Funny how that works.) Progressive, experimental, genius, trailblazing, monumental—all tags that fit Cohen comfortably. Reports indicate that hearing Cohen perform “Hallelujah” is the closest you’ll get to revelation these days. I don’t doubt it one bit. (Tom Lynch)

Leonard Cohen plays May 5-6 at Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State, (312)263-1138.

RECOMMENDED

Adam Pierce, the main man behind Mice Parade, has crafted a number of records under the moniker, most recently the self-titled 2007 release, and with each album he increases the vocals and pop construction to thrilling effect. (While the last record is divine, I’ll most likely forever prefer 2005′s “Bem-Vinda Vontade,” as I go back to its first three songs weekly.) His staggering work both as a percussionist and as a master of the nylon-stringed guitar creates heavenly pieces of adventurous post-rock; his whispered vocals give it intimacy. Music you’d hear at 2am at a jazz club in space. Pierce produced Gregory and the Hawk’s “Moenie and Kitchi,” and the band opens for Mice Parade tonight. An elegant match, Gregory and the Hawk’s brain, songwriter Meredith Godreau, plays a sort of folk-pop that’s melancholic with honest sweetness and soul, recalling the better work of Mazzy Star with the youth of a Marissa Nadler. “Moenie and Kitchi” is lovely, tonight should be a angelic affair. Did I mention it was free? Yeah, free. (Tom Lynch)

Mice Parade and Gregory and the Hawk play May 4 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, (773)276-3600, at 9:30pm. Free.

RECOMMENDED

It should take most people about ten seconds to realize the enormous power of current metal god Mastodon—now on its fourth record, “Crack the Skye,” a treacherous, more rock-inspired affair compared to its predecessors (no doubt thanks to producer Brendan O’Brien), but pleasing just the same. “Blood Mountain,” from 2006, remains Mastodon’s greatest achievement thus far, a terrific aural assault that even earned the band a Grammy nomination—they lost to Slayer, eh—and while touring for the record, the band was a highlight of the Pitchfork fest a couple summers ago. Mastodon seems destined for significant mainstream success; “Crack the Skye” debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, and a tour with Metallica can’t hurt. My only hope is that in the future the band drifts back to the power metal and further away from the hard rock. In the meantime, “Crack the Skye” still rules. (Tom Lynch)

Mastodon plays April 30 at Metro, 3730 N. Clark, (773)549-0203, at 8pm. $20.

RECOMMENDED

Jazz acts don’t usually stop by indie-rock venues like the Empty Bottle, but special exception must be made for an avant-garde legend like Peter Brotzmann. The German free jazz saxophonist/clarinetist/A.C. Newman lookalike hit the European scene in the late sixties with the release of “Machine Gun,” a visceral, violent record that’s still considered one of the more important in European jazz history. In the mid-eighties, Brotzmann formed Last Exit—the indisputable greatest free jazz supergroup of all-time—with guitarist Sonny Sharrock, drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson and bassist Bill Laswell, and the result was a chaotic symphony, the sound of four extraordinary skilled musicians pushing their instruments into the abyss. Now in his late sixties, Brotzmann’s harsh, abrasive timbre still sounds artistically fresh, a screaming assault of high-pitched cacophony and relentlessly piercing sax that will no doubt leave Empty Bottle patrons completely deaf in one ear for weeks to come. (Andy Seifert)

May 3 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, (773)276-3600, at 7pm. $15.

RECOMMENDED

If you’ve ever been in a band, Baltimore’s art-rock quartet Ponytail may jog something in your subconscious. For most bands, no practice session is complete without beginning or ending with impromptu jamming, which often consists of the drummer pounding the shit out of his set, the guitarists unabashedly riffing out whatever their fingers land on and the singer blathering uncontrollable gibberish into the microphone. It’s a rock ‘n’ roll rite of passage: the overly long, usually annoying jam session. It also happens to be the aesthetic Ponytail chooses to construct songs within, having somehow mastered the art form on last year’s “Ice Cream Spiritual.” The frenzied dueling guitar work of Ken Seeno and Dustin Wong thrive without basslines, seemingly competing for top billing while coordinating their attacks against our ears, while drummer Jeremy Hyman obeys no conventional time signature. Ponytail could doubtlessly stop right there and function as an untiring instrumental three-piece, but instead drops one helluva wild card with singer Molly Siegel, who shrieks, moans and babbles incoherently. Consequently, your enjoyment of Ponytail rests on whether you’re feeling a lot of pent-up childhood energy bubbling up inside you, the kind that yearns to scream, as Ms. Siegel does, “Ahh neeyy boo!” and “Yaoow haaah!” (Andy Seifert)

May 3 at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, (773)525-2508, at 9pm. $10-$12.

“Eh.” That’s the response for who-cares rockers Youth Group, an Australian quartet with three records of incredibly bland mid-tempo nothingness that proves these guys are technically proficient with their instruments but not too proficient at keeping audiences concerned. While an endorsement from Chris Walla has helped earned a few Death Cab for Cutie comparisons, Youth Group’s prevalence for slow-developing melodies and overproduced guitar tones help the band come across moreso as the ugly stepchild of Coldplay and Keane, except with twice as many groan-worthy lyrics. “I went down to the railyards to buy myself some time/The sky there goes on forever, it feels like you’re at the end of the world,” lead singer Toby Martin passionately tells us in the middle of last year’s “The Night is Ours.” Here’s another good one: “I understand that the root of pain is beauty,” Martin sings, and if he’s right, then it’s incredibly beautiful that I sat through this entire album. (Andy Seifert)

May 4 at Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, (773)227-4433, at 10pm. $10.